Death Penalty Challenged

post from TalkLeft on 25 September 2007 12:56:00 PM. © TalkLeft

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the use of lethal injections to execute inmates -- a procedure that may inflict unnecessary pain and suffering -- violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments.

The high court will hear a challenge from two inmates on death row in Kentucky - Ralph Baze and Thomas Clyde Bowling Jr. - who sued Kentucky in 2004, claiming lethal injection amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Baze has been scheduled for execution Tuesday night, but the Kentucky Supreme Court halted the proceedings earlier this month.

There are, of course, broader reasons to oppose the death penalty, as a new ABA study of capital punishment in Ohio demonstrates.

The system is full of racial and geographic imbalances, too many defendants don't get adequate legal help and too many protections of offenders' rights are absent from the capital punishment process, according to a 30-month review of Ohio's death penalty system by the American Bar Association.

The authors of the report want Ohio to suspend executions until the flaws in its criminal justice system are corrected. That would be good advice for every state that relies on death as a punishment.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/161136981/522

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HRC And "Return On Failure"

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 25 September 2007 12:50:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

This links to a whole bunch of polls conducted up until last month that show Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York as the leader of the field of Democratic nominees for the party nomination to run for president next year.

However, this shows that Survey USA has found that John Edwards is the strongest Democratic nominee among the field for the contests in Iowa and Missouri and tells us that he competes favorably in southern and Midwestern states.

And I know it?s no surprise to see our media beating the drum for Hillary and just about handing her the nomination, which thus allows them once more to dig into all of the dirt from the prior Clinton presidency (and also affording David Broder the opportunity to engage in more of his voyeuristic ?state of the Clintons? marriage? columns).

I don?t pretend to be any kind of a political guru, but all I know is that this won?t mean a whole lot if John Edwards wins Iowa, an eminently attainable goal, and shows strongly in subsequent primaries. Though Clinton and Barack Obama are formidable candidates for good reasons, no one really knows anything at this point, and we?re going to be in this ?season of pontification with no results? until voters start deciding one way or the other for awhile (at least until the Iowa Democratic Caucus next January 14th).

Still, though, most polling seems to show Clinton as the leader for now. Unfortunately, however, after somewhat of a flirtation with the netroots on the issue of a timeline for withdrawal on Iraq, she has apparently been consulted by Dubya regarding her public statements on the war.

What?s next, I wonder? Parenting tips from Britney Spears? A symposium on civil liberties hosted by Larry Craig? Tips on the proper use of cutlery by O.J. Simpson?

Clinton should make public exactly what it was that Dubya may have communicated to her and repudiate it for the record. And while it?s commendable that she wants ?a withdrawal bill with teeth,? it would have been nice if she had merely acknowledged that the MoveOn/Petraeus ad (sorry, but that still has some life left in it) was free speech and left it at that (hell, she didn?t even have to agree with it as far as I?m concerned).

And this ties in just a bit too uncomfortably for me to the wishes of the Beltway know-nothing pundits who want to see the DLC-centrist fictions preserved at all costs. If Clinton continues to follow down the road these people advocate, she may end up winning the battle (the presidency), but ultimately, she?ll lose the war, if you will (reforming the Democratic party into a sustainable, people-powered movement that would endure for generations).

Read The Full Article:
http://liberaldoomsayer.blogspot.com/2007/09/hrc-and-return-on-failure.html

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I'm Not Racist, I Just Want Racists to Vote For
Me

post from Steven White on 25 September 2007 12:35:00 PM. © Steven White

Matthew Yglesias completely misses the point:I have, in the past, been known to argue that the role[...]

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http://stevenwhite.typepad.com/steven_white/2007/09/im-not-racist-i.html

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Mitt Romney Still Silent on Blackwater Massacre

post from Crooks and Liars on 25 September 2007 12:34:03 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Via The Politico: (h/t Taylor Marsh)Mitt Romney has remained mum on the alleged killing of 11 Iraqis by a company where one of his top advisers serves as vice chairman, even as the case has led to an uproar in Baghdad and Washington. Barack Obama, John McCain and other politicians have raised the possibility of [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/09/25/mitt-romney-still-silent-on-blackwater-m
assacre/

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Lieberman-Kyl Amendment Seeks To Escalate
Possibility Of Military Action Against Iran

post from Think Progress on 25 September 2007 12:33:00 PM. © Think Progress

Today, the Senate is expected to vote on an “extremely threatening” amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill introduced by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ). The “sense of the Senate” amendment could “lead to a tit-for-tat escalation resulting in military confrontation between the US and Iran.”

The legislation accuses Iran of fighting “a proxy war against the Iraqi state and coalition forces in Iraq” and threatens to “combat, contain and [stop]” Iran. The right wing has quickly latched onto the amendment, claiming it “unflinchingly…calls on America to win” against Iran.

Appearing on Fox News today, Kyl attempted to downplay the legislation’s implications, claiming “this is not intended to be an authorization of military force against Iran.” Watch it:

In reality, the amendment is a clear call for military action against alleged Iranian agents inside Iraq. From the text of the legislation:

(3) that it should be the policy of the United States to combat, contain, and [stop] the violent activities and destabilizing influence inside Iraq of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its foreign facilitators such as Lebanese Hezbollah, and its indigenous Iraqi proxies;
(4) to support the prudent and calibrated use of all instruments of United States national power in Iraq, including diplomatic, economic, intelligence, and military instruments, in support of the policy described in paragraph (3) with respect to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies.

As Jonathan Schwarz noted, the amendment is a “Sense of the Senate” resolution, “which means it has no legal force, but as the Congressional Research Service will tell you, ‘foreign governments pay close attention to [such resolutions] as evidence of shifts in U.S. foreign policy priorities.’”

Analysts are warning that “the growing US focus on confronting Iran in a proxy war inside Iraq risks triggering a direct conflict in the next few months.” Kyl said his legislation would “pass rather handily.”

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/25/kyl-iran-fox/

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CNN's Costello failed to ask NRA's LaPierre about
Nugent's slurs against Obama, Clinton, Feinstein

post from Media Matters for America on 25 September 2007 12:31:32 PM. © Media Matters for America

On the September 21 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, contributor and guesthost Carol Costello interviewed National Rifle Association (NRA) executive vice president Wayne LaPierre,but she did not ask LaPierre about controversial remarks made by musicianTed Nugent -- an NRA board member -- during an August concert at Anaheim's House of Blues.As Media Matters for America noted,in video footage from the concert, Nugent held what appeared to be two assaultrifles and boasted that he told[...]

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http://mediamatters.org/items/rss/200709250001

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Barbara's Daily BuzzFlash Minute for September
25, 2007

post from BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash on 25 September 2007 12:28:51 PM. © BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

BARBARA'S DAILY BUZZFLASH MINUTE

It is nothing short of hilarious, that the ?Swiftboating? Repuglicans who don?t know the truth when it?s staring them in the face, are now feigning indignation and crying over the MoveOn.org ad regarding General ?BetrayUs?! The differences between MoveON and the Swift Boaters, to include George Bush, involve the differences between the truth and lies -- and as we?re finding out, Repuglicans can?t handle the truth!!! The only disgusting things we the American people have had to put up with are the lies we?ve been spoon fed by George Bush!!! He makes me want to vomit, every time I see him acting so self-righteous and indignant!

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http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/dailybuzz/394

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Feds Allege Cunningham Conspirator Hid Docs Near
Stash of "Embarrassing" Items

Yet another stop in the tour of all-around muck that is the Duke Cunningham case. In a filing today, prosecutors allege that John Michael, who's been indicted for laundering Cunningham's bribes and...

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http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004285.php

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A Party in Good Standing

For the last couple of days leading into tomorrow's Democratic presidential debate on MSNBC, the folks over at NBC's First Read have taken to bemoaning the status of the Democratic Party (as they apparently did to the Republican Party in the run up to[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mydd/~3/161113026/520

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McConnell Says He Won't Rush in a Surveillance
Emergency

So far, in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, McConnell hasn't been asked about his account that FISA Court-created restrictions prevented the NSA for 12 hours from spying on Iraqi insurgents...